Spring strut bearings are part of the wheel suspension in independent wheel suspension systems. The wheel suspension system supports the goals of driving safety and driving comfort, as well as easy and precise steering of the wheels. The wheel suspension should keep road surface noises away from the body and be as lightweight as possible. Depending on the design, the spring strut bearing guides the shock absorber spring and forms a support surface for the shock absorber end stop. The spring strut bearing absorbs the radial and axial forces transmitted via the shock absorber spring or the shock absorber and ensures that the shock absorber spring turns with low friction and without twisting for the steering and spring deflection and thus operates without a restoring moment.
Spring strut bearings are often part of so-called MacPherson struts. The spring strut is formed essentially of a spring, shock absorber, and stub axle. The spring strut bearing is provided with a cap that is mounted on the chassis-side spring strut brace, and also with a guide ring on which the shock absorber spring is supported and guided by this guide ring. The guide ring is supported so that it can rotate relative to the cap. The bearing enables a rotation of the spring relative to the body during steering, because the entire spring strut turns during steering movements.
From DE 10 2006 057 559 A1, a spring strut bearing is known that has a cap and a guide ring that can rotate relative to the cap. Between the cap and guide ring there is an axial bearing. The cap and guide ring are joined together captively as one unit with a positive-fit connection by a snap-on connection. A sealing element that extends on the inner and outer periphery of the cap is formed integrally with the cap.